Will Twitter's Security Improve?

Twitter and the FTC have reached a settlement regarding Twitter's data security lapses. According to a Washington Post article:

The FTC complaint said the breaches allowed hackers to gain administrative control over the online service, which lets users send brief messages called tweets to each other. According to the FTC, hackers were able to view email addresses and other private user information, gain access to user messages, reset user passwords and send phony tweets from user accounts.

As part of the settlement, Twitter must maintain a comprehensive information security program and cannot make any misleading statements about its security and privacy controls.

So will this mean that Twitter will be safer and more secure?

I guess the answer is: it depends. It should protect from the kind of breaches that led to the FTC complaint, but it won't prevent Twitter users from using the social-networking site as a way to spread spam or malware. For example, Softpedia reported Trend Micro has discovered a new Twitter spam campaign is spreading a backdoor Trojan:

Over the past two weeks, several Twitter accounts were created for the sole purpose of tweeting Poison Ivy or Bifrost download links. Both Poison Ivy and Bifrost are backdoors, malicious programs that allow an unauthorized user access to the infected machine.

Twitter, like other social-media sites, has become an important marketing tool for the enterprise, so it is important to set a solid security policy and tread carefully.

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